My New Favorite Things: Hello Fresh

Wasabi Lime Salmon from the Classic Plan

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July with people you love. Patrick and I enjoyed swimming with the family, trying to avoid the downpours in Manassas, and Swirlies with my nephew Hu after avoiding said downpours. 

I have some things I want to share with ya'll, products I'm into right now that are helping me in a variety of ways. First up, I'm going to talk about food (duh):



Hello Fresh is making meal time at my house more fun, collaborative and tasty!

What is it? Hello Fresh is a subscription meal plan service which sends you recipes and ingredients each week, reducing prep and planning time for meals. They have a meat and veggie plan aka the "Classic", or Veggie (only) Plan; both come in two different sizes, two or four people. There is also a Family Plan geared towards families of four. Each box contains three meals for the week and should be cooked roughly within the week, since they contain fresh produce that will spoil. See below for the details on the plans:

*Note that you can choose your meals only in the Classic Plan

Each recipe card includes a beautiful photo on the front, with all the ingredients needed.

On the back, the recipe instructions are broken down step by step, with photos.

Our experience: Patrick and I have now tried 12 meals from Hello Fresh, from both the meat and veggie options. The Veggie Plan often includes a grain and the Classic (meat) Plan always includes plentiful veggies as sides. I love the balance between the food groups, and end up eating more veggies than I normally would on my own. Patrick was surprised by how filling and tasty the veggie meals were, and we've both cooked vegetables which we've previously only eaten in restaurants (bok choy, anyone?). The best part is we get to flex our teamwork skills and spend time together while we tackle the recipes. Putting effort into cooking makes dinner more of an event, and we end up sitting down at the dining table, rather than couch. The whole experience is incredibly rewarding.

You try it: Promo codes abound for first time customers; you can google a coupon code and get your first box for only $20. You can unsubscribe and re-subscribe as much as you like. Depending how busy we are, every other week is sometimes a better option for us. We've taken a longer hiatus as well, but found ourselves getting bored with our uncreative food choices. If you try it, let me know how it goes!